Dollar Vulnerable Before Jobs as Currency Faces April Headwind

The dollar faces an April headwind that’s been blowing since 2011, threatening to put a halt to the currency’s best start to a year in more than a decade.

A gauge of the currency against its peers has fallen this month, following three successive quarters of gains that were driven by speculation the U.S economy is strong enough for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year for the first time since 2006. Reports Wednesday on employment and manufacturing tempered that optimism before the Labor Department announces its monthly jobs data on Friday.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against 10 of its peers, was little changed at 1,197.87 as of 9:16 a.m. in Tokyo, after dropping 0.2 percent Wednesday. It advanced 20 percent in the nine months ended March 31, the biggest three-quarter gain in data going back to 2004. The last time the gauge rose in April was in 2010.

The greenback was unchanged at $1.0763 against the euro and depreciated 0.1 percent to 119.65 yen.

Demand for the dollar dropped on Wednesday after ADP Research Institute said U.S. employers added 189,000 jobs in March, fewer than in February and below economists’ forecast for gains of 225,000. The Labor Department is projected to report the economy added 245,000 nonfarm jobs last month.